The Columbia University Food Sustainability Project supports the development of a just food system. To learn more about the Columbia Community Garden or for general CUFSP inquiries, contact Taylor Dunne: td2324@columbia.edu; for Morningside Heights CSA, contact morningsideheightscsa@gmail.com; and direct inquiries regarding the public housing garden to grantcommunitygarden@gmail.com. We welcome all community members to participate in CUFSP initiatives!

Friday, September 5

Real Food Challenge

Columbia Food Sustainablility Project is already part of a coalition called Real Food New York which brings together many schools from New York state to work on similar issue revolving around the Real Food Challenge. Please read the following, and let's find ways to make this a successful campaign on campus!

Take action this fall for Real Food Now! Join thousands of students on hundreds of campuses across the country—including student farmers, fair trade and farm worker rights advocates, local food champions, and climate change activists—as we act for a more just and sustainable food system. Students—from Hawaii to New Hampshire—will organize protest potlucks, community teach-ins, and real food roundtables to highlight the need for real change in campus food.

Especially now, as we witness a growing obesity epidemic, soaring food prices, labor abuses in the fields, and the degradation of our land and water, it’s becoming clear that our food system is in crisis. All across the country students like you are taking action—breaking ground on new community gardens, campaigning for clean energy and local food in campus cafeterias, and working in solidarity with farm workers and farmers abroad. Real change is happening on campuses nationwide and students are leading the way!

Highlight the strength and diversity of the growing student food movement—showcasing the inspiring work that's already happening on campus and in the community.

Kick off the Real Food Challenge— a national campaign to redirect the $4 billion spent by colleges and universities on food each year to real food, food that is healthy as well as community-based, ecologically sound, fair, and humane.

Provide an opportunity to take action locally to change our campus food systems— making campus communities into inspiring hubs of real food solutions.

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Together, we can dramatically transform our campuses and educate our peers. But to achieve the real change our food system requires, we need you. Join the movement and take action for Real Food Now!

----------------------What you can do:

Plan an Action—Organize a Real Food Now! Action between September 21st and October 21st. This could be as simple as throwing together a potluck to get people talking about real food, or as extravagant as a real food cook-off in your dining halls. If you've already got something planned, simply register it online. Go to: http://realfoodchallenge.org more ideas and to share your action with other students across the country.

Spread the Word— Contact your friends and club-mates this summer and start brainstorming ideas. Forward this announcement to friends on other campuses to help grow the movement.

Contact Us— The Real Food Challenge Team is happy to answer any questions, connect you with others in your area, or just talk real food! ----------------------

Make your voice heard loud and clear with thousands of other young people--we want Real Food Now!